The present invention relates to well packers and more specifically is directed to a unitary tubular gripping member for use in pivotable arrangement upon a well packer. A well packer utilizing a tubular gripping member was first disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,548,936 to Kilgore et al. The well packer gripping slip disclosed therein utilized a generally flat tooth profile along a substantially cylindrical surface.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,849 to Meripol an unitary tubular gripping member was disclosed having a curved bounding tooth profile as contrasted with the above mentioned Kilgore et al. patent having a flat bounding tooth profile. This improvement in the Meripol patent involved the versatility of the well packer utilizing such unitary slip in that with the Meripol gripping member a single packer could be utilized in casing sizes of varying internal dimensions with improved gripability of the well packer gripping member therein.
The present invention is directed to a unitary gripping member having a curved bounding tooth profile with varying angles of tooth faces according to the location of the tooth along the curved tooth profile.